What were the legendary man-eating snakes of Borneo?

Hundreds of years ago, eight children were taken from a village in Borneo - by "dragons". What were these terrifying beasts?

Presented by

Nadia Drake

Several centuries ago, a group of Borneo natives left their villages and headed deep into the jungle, searching for a home away from the Dutch colonialists who had begun spreading across their island. Eventually, they found a nice spot in the lowland rainforests near the mountains in Borneo's centre. They built houses and cultivated crops, and caught fish from the Burak river. All was well. Then children began vanishing.

One at a time, the kids disappeared, leaving behind baffled and frantic adults. This happened eight days in a row. Was it the work of a forest ghost, or jungle nomads, or a big carnivore like a clouded leopard? To find out, the villagers set a trap and baited it with another child, sacrificing one more life to stop the slaughter.

The creature that finally emerged from the river was huge, limbless and covered in scales. It was a snake, but one so overgrown they called it a dragon.

They found two huge, chocolate-brown adult dragons

Continued ...

Real Dragon Over Truro, England on Oct. 11, 2013

Dragons are real, the video below shows Dragon flying over Truro, England.

The oldest recorded use of the dragon to symbolize Wales is in the Historia Brittonum, written around AD 829, but it is popularly supposed to have been the battle standard of King Arthur and other ancient Celtic leaders. Its association with these leaders along with other evidence from archaeology, literature, and documentary history lead many to suppose that it evolved from an earlier Romano-British national symbol.

During the reigns of the Tudor monarchs, the red dragon was used as a supporter in the English Crown’s coat of arms (one of two supporters, along with the traditional English lion).

The red dragon is often seen as symbolising all things Welsh, and is used by many public and private institutions. These include the Welsh Government, Visit Wales, and numerous local authorities including Blaenau Gwent, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea, and sports bodies, including the Sport Wales National Centre, the Football Association of Wales, Cardiff City F.C., Newport Gwent Dragons, and London Welsh RFC.

continued

Game of Thrones comes to Dorset as giant dragon skull appears on beach

It's the moment the area's dedicated fossil hunters have been waiting for: A giant dragon skull has washed up on the Jurrassic Coast in Dorset.

But, wait, hang on a minute... Doesn't that skull look a bit familiar?

Sadly this isn't proof that the winged beasts once walked the earth. Standing at 40ft, complete with a full set of scarily sharp teeth, it's in fact a replica of the dragon skull Arya found in the Kings Landing dungeons in fantasy series Game of Thrones.

The bleached white bones, which took three sculptors over two months to create, has popped up on the famous Dorset coastline to celebrate the news that the third series of HBO's Game of Thrones has landed on On Demand service blinkbox months before it's available anywhere else.

Ben Ayers from blinkbox said: "Game of Thrones is easily the most talked about TV show of the moment. We wanted to mark its arrival on blinkbox with a spectacle every bit as dramatic as this amazing series."

There seems to be something of a vogue for this sort of thing. A 12ft Mr Darcy recently emerged from The Serpentine in London's Hyde Park to mark the launch of the Drama channel.

Read on

Amazing recycled dragons

‘Never stare into the eyes of the beast’ was surely the mantra of dragon slayers of bygone ages. Wise words, but maybe more difficult in practice! These fearsome creatures have a way of casting a spell that enchants anyone crossing their path. And looking at these recycled beasts, we don't really mind.

Written by: Simone Preuss

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/art/news-12-amazing-recycled-dragons 

The Olmec Dragon

Icon. Drawing Olmec: dragon carved in stone found
in Chalcatzingo (Photo: INAH)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

MEXICO – In Vera Cruz, Guerrero and Morelos (states of Mexico), archaeologists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) found representations of mythical beings who were believed, until then, were ignored by the ancient dwellers of the region: dragons.

Images carved in stone, clay sculptures and paintings dating between the years 1200 and 400 BC indicate the practice of a cult of worship to this fantastic animal: the dragon Olmec. There is no mistake. This is not the plumed serpent known and called Quetzalcoatl or Kukulkan. It is another more ancient creature.

The olmec dragon is depicted as a chimera, mixing physical features of snake, bird and jaguar. It also appears like an anthropomorphic being, a dragon-man.

The images have peculiar traits of the Olmec culture: the flame-shaped eyebrows and a cross, of the type called cross of St. Andrew, located between the eyes or on the back. The chief of excavations at Chalcatzingo, in Morelos, Carolina Meza Rodriguez adds: Another interesting aspect of Olmec dragon is that his mouth emits signs that seem like combinations of commas. It is not known whether the signals represent mere fumes or they are words, names, belonging to an unknown language or writing.

The olmec dragons are always related to the cave entrances. It is speculated that they are the symbol of power of an ancient lineage of leaders who ruled the Olmec people between the years 800 and 500 BC. In some cases, the iconographic elements associated with the dragon are found in different parts of a cave. Thereby, the entire chamber becomes a dragon. The Olmec people is the oldest sedentary culture today known at Mesoamerica

SOURCE: CRUZ, Antimio. Los Olmecas también imaginaron dragones.
IN El Universal/Mexico, published in 03/27/2011
[http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/cultura/65110.html]

http://brazilweirdnews.blogspot.com/2011/03/olmec-dragon.html

FOSSIL DRAGON IN ROMANIA

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/aug/30/dragon-dinosaur-fossil-found-romania

Frightening new predator found in the homeland of the dragon
Fossil of balaur bondoc in Romania shows how the dinosaur would have terrorised other animals
• Caroline Davies
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 30 August 2010 20.00 BST

There's no evidence of wings or fire-breathing capability. But the powerfully built, meat-eating predator that terrorised Romania some 80m years ago is close to the mythological dragon.

Fossils found near the city of Sebes in central Romania have revealed a dinosaur with scythe-like claws for ripping apart prey which scientists have named balaur bondoc – "stocky dragon" in ancient Romanian.

Related to the velociraptor, which was brought to terrifying life in the film Jurassic Park, the dinosaur roamed the area when it was an island during the late Cretaceous period. At just 2.1 metres (7ft) long, it might have made a disappointing opponent for St George but would have preyed on small animals.

A partial skeleton of balaur bondoc, including leg, hip, vertebrae, arms, ribs and tail bones, has been unearthed from a former flood plain near Sebes.

Balaur had a stockier build than the velociraptor, its short legs and powerful muscles suggesting it was built for strength rather than speed. Its most unusual feature was having two oversized toe claws to the velociraptor's one.

"Balaur is a new breed of predatory dinosaur, very different from anything we have ever known," said Stephen Brusatte of Columbia University in New York, co-author of the research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Its anatomy shows it probably hunted in a different way than its less stocky relatives. Compared to the velociraptor, balaur was probably more of a kickboxer than a sprinter, and it might have been able to take down larger animals than itself, as many carnivores do today."

Scientists believe the lower limbs were used to grasp and disembowel prey.

Unlike the vampire, which entered the mythology of eastern Europe in the early 18th century, the dragon has been part of Romanian legend for many centuries. Its ubiquity in fairytales worldwide has been interpreted as evidence that it could have existed. Balaur the evil hydra, a popular creature in Romanian mythology, is similar to a dragon but differs from its newly discovered namesake in that it was large and had fins, feet and multiple serpent heads.

The Romanian link with dragons was perpetuated in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. The character Ron Weasley's brother Charlie worked at the world's largest dragon reservation in Romania.

As to the comparatively modest balaur bondoc, Josh Chamot of the National Science Foundation in Virginia said: "It's as large as anything you'd expect to find on one of the larger continents. Animals which were isolated from others on these islands were usually a lot smaller than their continental counterparts. This dino's size advantage, combined with the two claws it had on each foot to slice prey with, would have made it a very successful hunter."

Mark Norell, co-author of the study, called the discovery "thrilling". He said: "While we would expect that there were carnivorous animals in these faunas, finding one as unusual as balaur is thrilling and is testament to the unusual animals found on islands today and in the past.

"The finding indicates that this area of the world, despite its archipelago geography, had at least intermittent connections with the mainland up to the end of the cretaceous."

Museum staging a monster exhibition

Saturday 12th June 2010

TERRIFYING serpents, dragons and gods will be brought to life in an exhibition on the part played by rivers in folklore.

Rivers, Myths and Monsters opens today at the Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology, in Durham City, with art inspired by chilling and exciting tales set in the world’s waterways.

Rivers have inspired myths around the world, from the local legend of the Lambton Worm, with a model of the monstrous serpent decorated by members of the 10th Durham Brownies (St Margaret’s), to pendants and plaques from China which tell the story of river carp that magically transform into dragons.

There are also tales from India, where Krishna battled the many-headed serpent, Kaliya, and Egypt, where figurines and amulets illustrate the story of the search by the goddess Isis for the body of her husband, Osiris, which had been hidden in the Nile by the evil Seth.

Madeline Betts, of Durham University, said: “Down the ages, rivers have inspired myths and monster tales around the globe. This exhibition tells their stories.

“There are games and many ways to interact with the objects on show, most of which have never been on display and are kept in the Oriental Museum’s Store, so this is a fun and engaging place to visit for all the family!”

The exhibition runs until September 5.

The Old Fulling Mill is open from 11am to 4pm daily and admission is £1 for adults, 50p for children and over-60s, or free to students and the underfives.

For more details, visit durham.ac.uk/fullingmill or call 0191-334-1823.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/durham/8216251.Museum_staging_a_monster_exhibition/?ref=rss

Real Dragon Fossils on Display in China

Some fossils, named the “China dragon fossils”, were recently exhibited in the Xinwei Ancient Life Fossils Museum in Anshun, Guizhou.

When archeologists first stripped the clay off the fossil, they found the dragon had a pair of horns above its head and the shape of the dragon was very like the legendary animal often described in books and stories.

Dragons have often appeared in Chinese legends. The dragon with two horns on its head is regarded as a totem. The totem was first invented by Chinese ancestors and worshipped by the Chinese people. Therefore Chinese people are also called the “descendents of the dragon”.

For a long time, scientists thought that the dragon was a fictional animal existing only in stories.

The dragon fossil was found in Guanling County, Anshun City, in 1996, and has been kept in a good condition. It is measured 7.6 meters long. Its head is 76 centimeters long and the neck is 54 centimeters long. The body is 2.7 meters in length and 68 centimeters in width, and the tail is 3.7 meters long.

The dragon’s head is in a triangle shape. Its mouth is 43 centimeters long. The widest part of the head is 32 centimeters long. The horns project from the widest part of the head, and are symmetrical and 27 centimeters long. They are a little bit curved and tilted, which makes the fossil look very much like the legendary dragon.

The China dragon was a reptile animal living in the ocean in Triassic Period about 200 million years ago. It was an amphibian. It spent most of its time living in water, although sometimes it walked on land. It also laid eggs on land. The animal lived on fish and small reptile animals.

This is the first time that China found a dragon fossil with a pair of horns. Its discovery provides some evidence to prove that dragons might really have horns. The fossil provides important scientific information for people to trace the origin of the Chinese legendary dragon.

By Sun Tzu on 29-06-2007

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2007/06/29/real-dragon-fossils-on-display-in-china/

Origin of Komodo Dragon Revealed

Charles Q. Choi
Special to LiveScienceLiveScience.com – Tue Oct 6, 11:46 am ET

Dragons may come from the land Down Under.

Scientists now find that the world's largest living lizard species, the Komodo dragon, most likely evolved in Australia and dispersed westward to its current home in Indonesia.

In the past, researchers had suggested the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) developed from a smaller ancestor isolated on the Indonesian islands, evolving its large size as a response to lack of competition from other predators or as a specialist hunter of pygmy elephants known as Stegodon.

However, over the past three years, an international team of scientists unearthed numerous fossils from eastern Australia dated from 300,000 years ago to roughly 4 million years ago that they now know belong to the Komodo dragon.

"When we compared these fossils to the bones of present-day Komodo dragons, they were identical," said researcher Scott Hocknull, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Queensland Museum in Australia.

For the last 4 million years, Australia has been home to the world's largest lizards, including the 16-foot-long giant (5 meters) called Megalania, once the world's largest terrestrial lizard but which died out some 40,000 years ago.

"Now we can say Australia was also the birthplace of the three-meter (10 foot) Komodo dragon," Hocknull said.

The researchers said the ancestor of the Komodo dragon most likely evolved in Australia and spread westward, reaching the Indonesian island of Flores by 900,000 years ago. Comparisons between fossils and living Komodo dragons on Flores show that the lizard's body size has remained relatively stable since then.

Further support for this notion of dispersal from Australia comes from the island of Timor, located between Australia and Flores. Three fossil specimens from Timor represent a new, as yet unnamed species of giant monitor lizard, which was larger than the Komodo dragon, although smaller than Megalania. More specimens of this new giant lizard are needed before the species can be formally described.

"There are a lot of things we just simply don't know about this part of the world - Indonesia to Australia," Hocknull told LiveScience. "In recent years this region has thrown up remarkable discoveries - a new species of hominid, the 'Lost World' in New Guinea boasting dozens of new species having never met humans, and now an island chain of giant lizards, including the largest of them all, Megalania from Australia. However, they all went extinct, except the Komodo dragon. The big question now is why? The south-east Asian to Australian region is a hot-spot of new and exciting discoveries."

All these huge lizards were once common in Australasia for more than 3.8 million years, having evolved alongside large mammalian carnivores, such as Thylacoleo, the so-called 'marsupial lion.' The Komodo dragon is the last of these giants, but within the last 2,000 years, their populations have diminished severely, most likely due to humans, and they are now vulnerable to extinction, living now on just a few isolated islands in eastern Indonesia, between Java and Australia.

"Understanding the past history of a species is absolutely fundamental to determining its potential trajectory in the future, its responses to climate change, habitat change and extinction events," Hocknull said. "The Komodo dragon's fossil record shows that it is a resilient species - resilient to major climatic changes throughout its past, surviving extinction events which wiped out contemporary megafauna species."

One question that now pops up is why the Komodo dragon went extinct on Australia while surviving on a few isolated Indonesian isles. Hocknull noted that climate was an unlikely suspect, as "climate impacts species on islands just as much as a big continent like Australia. In Australia there is plenty of habitat which could be conducive to Komodo dragons. If you released them in Australia today they would probably do quite well."

Were humans involved? "We have no evidence for this because the youngest Komodo fossils in Australia are around 300,000 years old, well before humans arrived. So we don't know whether the Komodo dragons in Australia died out before humans arrived or after. So the jury will remain out on this question until a better fossil record is found."

Hocknull noted these islands of lizards are each, in a sense, individual experiments in evolution that shed light not only on the past of these lizards, but potentially also on the future of the world.

"It's a perfect place to see how life adapts and evolves in response to major environmental impacts, like sea level change, climatic changes, catastrophes - tsunamis and volcanic eruptions - plus each island has received modern humans at one time or another," he explained. "What were their impacts and how did species cope? This will be our Rosetta Stone when understanding how species will respond to future climate change."

The scientists will detail their findings on Sept. 30 in the journal PLoS ONE.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20091006/sc_livescience/originofkomododragonrevealed

Mythical Creatures - 16 June 2009

A set of six stamps depicting Mythical Creatures will be issued by Royal Mail this summer
Fantasy and myth are popular subjects for both films and books. Here fantasy artist Dave McKean (who worked on the Harry Potter movies) takes a look at some of the most popular and unusual creatures from legend. The UK has a rich and diverse folklore around mythical creatures: some famous nationally and others regionally. This set features: unicorn, mermaid - legends very common around UK coast inc northern isles of Scotland), Giant (inspired by Finn McCool associated with the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland), Fairy queen (in a chariot pulled by birds), Pixie (which feature in Cornish folklore), and Dragon (emblem of Wales).

http://www.norvic-philatelics.co.uk/2009/06a-mythical_creatures.htm